OCOEE — The city of Ocoee has come a long way from when the 1930 census showed there wasn't a single black resident within city limits.

But there is still more work to be done to ensure the west Orange County city is inclusive for everyone who wants to live there, pastors and city officials said Monday.

"Another one of the great lies about bigotry and prejudice [is] it used to be a problem, but it's not anymore," said Pastor Bryan Stamper of Quest Church.

Stamper was the keynote speaker at the city's 11th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Parade and Celebration on Monday morning.

The annual event, organized by the city's Human Relations Diversity Board, kicked off with a parade down Clarke Road, following a route of nearly a mile and ending in the West Oaks Mall parking lot.

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Raised in Decatur, Ga., Stamper said he first learned about racism when, as a 10-year-old boy, he saw men in his neighborhood shouting at black people who were walking by.

Since then, Stamper has seen racism and bigotry of all forms, including black-on-black hatred.

In the 1970s, Stamper was playing host to a pair of Rotarians from Uganda who spoke about men in a different tribe the same way his "bigoted racist cousins in Alabama talked about blacks."

"And it helped me to understand that bigotry and racism and prejudice, it goes a little deeper than black and white," he told a crowd of about 75 people. "It's a problem that's not just them."

When he arrived in Ocoee in the 1990s, he found a city still divided along racial lines and very little minority representation in local government. The city was the site of a race riot in 1920.

"If you're a person of color, you're a newcomer in this community," Stamper said. "You weren't here 30 years ago."

Less than 18 percent of Ocoee's population is black, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The overwhelming majority, about 66.8 percent, is white.

"We need to get to a point where our kids aren't looking at each other's color, where everyone's working together, and everyone wants to live in Ocoee because it's a cool, progressive place," Crown said.

She said it's not uncommon for white residents to judge each other for interracial interactions.

"You still see, at time, looks from people if you're speaking to someone of color," Crown said. "There's still racism."

Crown said it's important for the city to host the annual celebration on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day that honors the birthday of one of the country's leading civil-rights activists.

She said the city is on track for an economic boom with new apartment complexes and other development coming this year. With that kind of growth come new residents.

"I'm hoping and hoping that the influx of folks are people that are like-minded, that are not bigots," Crown said.

Allie Braswell, the celebration's emcee, urged residents to remember Ocoee's history but keep making progress toward a more welcoming, equal community.

"In order to carry it forward, we must pick up the mantle and carry it forward," Braswell said.